Principles of Metabolomics

Catalog description

Metabolomics is broadly defined as the comprehensive measurement of low-molecular weight molecules present within an organism, cell, or tissue. As a newer -omics technology, it has found applications in a number of disciplines, including biomedical studies, drug discovery, environmental and ecological monitoring, plant biology, toxicology, and food science. This course teaches the general principles of metabolomics studies and analysis. The objectives of this course include: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of metabolomics investigations and methods that enter into reproducible, rigorous studies; describe the instrumental and chemical considerations involved in gathering robust data; apply uni- and multi-variate statistical analyses to the data; demonstrate an understanding of interpretation strategies and how to relate statistical analyses to the original sample system; and apply knowledge of metabolomics in discussing emerging instrumental and analytical strategies. This course is designed for those interested in incorporating metabolomics analyses into their research programs, as well as those interested in this emerging -omics technology and its applications to human, plant, animal, and environmental systems. While there is no formal perquisite or requirement for statistics prior to taking this course, it should be understood that a lot of data analysis techniques surrounding metabolomics involves univariate and multivariate statistics. Thus, an understanding of basic statistics is recommended to maximize the benefits of this course. The course will include in-person interaction with both the Metabolomics Core Facility and the NMR Core Facility to gain some hands-on experience on sample submission and operation of the instruments in question.